4/17/26 - 4/24/26

Apr. 24th, 2026 08:11 pm
gwydion: (Default)
[personal profile] gwydion

* "1 killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on 1st full day of ceasefire deal:" https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/lebanon-israel-ceasefire-hezbollah-9.7167688

* "Is this what war looks like now?:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/apr/24/gaza-israel-lebanon-war

* "Israel entrenches hold on south Lebanon, warns residents to stay out:" https://archive.ph/sgd0Q

* "Satellite images reveal scale of Israeli demolitions as Lebanese villages destroyed:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxkk1vnp57o

* "Israeli killing of Lebanese journalist draws international condemnation:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/lebanon-journalist-amal-khalil-israel-death-threat

****** Sort is Rough and speed of news means som e items may be already out of date ******

* "Annalena Baerbock - The United Nations is “Life Insurance for Everyone” | The Daily Show:"

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I'm including this here because it has some things to do with the war, though it is more generally to do with the U.N. itself.

* "John Kerry's Advice To Trump's Iran Negotiators: Take Time To Be Reasonable:"

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* "The Fog Of War Is Emanating From The White House - Anderson Cooper On Trump's War Against Iran:"

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* "Congress Could Tell Trump: Put A Stop To This War - Sen. Elizabeth Warren:"

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* "Democrats Raise Concerns Over Civilian Casualties From Iran War:" https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/iran-war-israel-us-strait-hormuz-2026/card/dZGJlN62opWnTvCTohsj

* "U.S. considers $20 billion cash-for-uranium deal with Iran:" https://www.axios.com/2026/04/17/iran-us-deal-20-billion-frozen-funds-uranium

* "Iran doubles down on closing Strait of Hormuz as ceasefire nears expiration:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/19/iran-doubles-down-on-closing-strait-of-hormuz-as-ceasefire-nears-expiration-00879967

* "U.S. military will target Iran-linked ships worldwide, broadening scope beyond blockade:" https://archive.ph/zujxT

* "US ready to hit Iran with ‘financial equivalent’ to bombings, treasury secretary says:" https://apnews.com/live/iran-war-israel-trump-04-15-2026

* "Bombshell Report Reveals Trump Was Begging for Iran to Join Ceasefire:" https://newrepublic.com/post/208815/trump-asked-iran-ceasefire

* "Trump is stuck looking for military solution to an economic problem in Iran:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-is-stuck-looking-for-military-solution-to-an-economic-problem-in-iran-2496754755521

* "The one Trump gaffe that sums up his entire Iran failure:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/the-one-trump-gaffe-that-sums-up-his-entire-iran-failure-2496874563518

* "Iran takes Donald Trump down a peg with costly lesson in compromise:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/iran-takes-donald-trump-down-a-peg-with-costly-lesson-in-compromise-2496586819906

* "Trump’s Illegalist War Gets Illegaler:"

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* "‘This is not serious leadership’: Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC in Miami as Iran talks fail:" https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/12/donald-trump-marco-rubio-ufc-iran-war

* "Vought: White House doesn’t have ‘ballpark’ total for Iran war funding:" https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/15/congress/no-iran-funding-ballpark-00872934

* "Trump pretends he’s in no rush on Iran as Americans lose patience with war’s fallout:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-pretends-he-s-in-no-rush-on-iran-as-americans-lose-patience-with-war-s-fallout-2497614915693

* "Iran says it seized ships in Strait of Hormuz as U.S. blockade continues amid ceasefire:" https://www.npr.org/2026/04/22/nx-s1-5795405/iran-middle-east-updates

* "US intercepts three Iranian oil tankers in Asian waters, sources say :" https://archive.ph/hE4WP

* "Only five ships pass through Strait of Hormuz in 24 hours:" https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/only-five-ships-pass-through-strait-hormuz-24-hours-2026-04-24/

* "Trump orders U.S. military to 'shoot and kill' Iranian small boats choking Strait of Hormuz:" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trump-orders-u-s-military-to-shoot-and-kill-iranian-small-boats-choking-strait-of-hormuz

* "US military says it seizes another oil tanker associated with Iran:" https://apnews.com/article/us-iran-war-hormuz-israel-pakistan-ceasefire-april-22-2026-267230f7f32b436822484479313840f7

* "U.S. Intelligence Shows China Taking a More Active Role in Iran War:" https://archive.ph/Nm2eO

* "In the Gulf, GPS jamming leaves delivery drivers navigating blind:" https://restofworld.org/2026/gps-disruption-gulf-gig-workers/

* "Why Would Pentagon Allegedly Threaten Pope's Ambassador With 'Avignon Papacy'?:" https://religiondispatches.org/2026/04/10/why-would-pentagon-allegedly-threaten-popes-ambassador-avignon-papacy

* "Pope Leo: “I Have No Fear” of Trump:" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/pope-leo-trump-i-have-no-fear-war-iran/

* "Johnson backs Trump, Vance in criticism of pope:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/15/mike-johnson-trump-vance-pope-criticism-00873232

* "Pope condemns killing of protesters in Iran, reaffirms stance against war:" https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-condemns-killing-protesters-iran-reaffirms-stance-against-war-2026-04-23/

* "Hegseth Quotes Made-Up Bible Verse From Pulp Fiction:" https://newrepublic.com/post/209145/hegseth-fake-bible-verse-pulp-fiction

* "As Vance rallies with Turning Point, some supporters bristle at Trump’s war, memes and feuds:" https://apnews.com/article/vance-pope-leo-donald-trump-jesus-meme-2488d70793a21909b1026ccad0ac42a7

* "‘Veep-like week’: Hayes reacts to JD Vance’s recent ‘string of failures’ :" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/veep-like-week-hayes-reacts-to-jd-vance-s-recent-string-of-failures-2496419907890

* "Navy secretary is out amid Pentagon infighting:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/22/navy-secretary-out-00887887

* "Navy secretary fired amid naval blockade in Strait of Hormuz:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/navy-secretary-fired-amid-naval-blockade-in-strait-of-hormuz-2497438787825

* "Trump's new Navy secretary seems very afraid of witches and drag queens:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/hung-cao-witches-drag-queens

* "Jared Kushner’s Mysterious Role in the Trump Administration:" https://archive.ph/md4Rx

* "Eric Trump-Backed Startup Lands $24 Million Contract from His Father's Administration:" https://people.com/eric-trump-backed-startup-lands-usd24-million-contract-from-his-father-administration-11957625

* "Trump’s sons are fooling no one cashing in on Trump’s war:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-s-sons-are-fooling-no-one-cashing-in-on-trump-s-war-2497609283553

* "‘Incredible grift’: Rep. Garcia criticizes Eric Trump’s $24 million Pentagon contract:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/incredible-grift-eric-trump-brags-about-scoring-24-million-pentagon-deal-2497583171767

* "Trump’s corruption becomes a campaign issue as GOP Congress flunks on accountability:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-s-corruption-becomes-a-campaign-issue-as-gop-congress-flunks-on-accountability-2497458755554

* "Detention of journalist in Kuwait raises questions about crackdown on freedom of speech:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/14/detention-journalist-ahmed-shihab-eldin-kuwait-crackdown-freedom-speech-iran-war

* "‘Outrageous’: American journalist detained in Kuwait after posting Iran war video:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/outrageous-american-journalist-detained-in-kuwait-after-posting-iran-war-video-2496571459985

* "Journalist detained in Kuwait acquitted of ‘spreading false information’, says press monitor:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/23/journalist-detained-in-kuwait-acquitted-of-spreading-false-information-says-press-monitor

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* "Cuba runs on oil, and the oil is running out:" https://archive.ph/GY83K

* "Trump going ‘Access Hollywood’ on Cuba and threatening THIS:"

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* "After years of war with Russia, Ukraine's farmers are hit by Iran conflict:" https://archive.ph/XsL8L

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* "Children make up half of Haiti’s gangs. They’re about to face a new foreign force.:" https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/06/americas/haiti-gang-children-face-new-foreign-force-latam-intl
* "5 things to know about Péter Magyar, Hungary's new prime minister:" https://www.npr.org/2026/04/13/nx-s1-5783657/peter-magyar-hungary-prime-minister-orban-election

* "He exposed corruption and walked across Hungary. Now Péter Magyar has defeated a powerful state machine:" https://theconversation.com/he-exposed-corruption-and-walked-across-hungary-now-peter-magyar-has-defeated-a-powerful-state-machine-280455

* "Viktor Orbán won't be the last anti-LGBTQ+ strongman to topple:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/viktor-orban-strongman-topple

* "How to Defeat a Very Trumpy Authoritarian Leader:" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/authoritarian-prime-minister-viktor-orban-hungary-defeated-by-peter-magyar-tisza-fidesz-party/

* "Maddow: Trump’s fear is palpable as authoritarian peer Orbán is resoundingly rejected in Hungary:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/maddow-trump-s-fear-is-palpable-as-authoritarian-peer-orban-is-resoundingly-rejected-in-hungary-2496282179662
* "Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did 'just abortions,' asked for 'Barney-style' slides before gutting agency, per new book:" https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-usaid-abortions-barney-nicholas-enrich-into-the-wood-chipper-book-exclusive

*** Immigration/I.C.E/Autocracy/Slow Motion Civil War/Violent Illegal Occupation of Blue Cities News (Sort likely a little rough)***

* "Appeals court again blocks Boasberg contempt probe into Alien Enemies Act deportations:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/14/james-boasberg-contempt-deportations-ruling-00871317

* "Trump Removes 2 Judges Who Dismissed Student Deportation Cases:" https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/04/13/judges-who-dismissed-student-deportation-cases-removed

* "ICE Makes SHOCK ADMISSION in Court on use of SPYWARE?!?!:"

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* "Mexican surveillance giant you’ve never heard of is now watching the U.S. border:" https://restofworld.org/2026/mexico-seguritech-government-surveillance-profile/

* "He came here for safety. America made him fight for it.:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/examining-lgbtq-asylum-seekers

* Cruelty is the Point. "Afghan high school senior is detained by ICE as he prepared to graduate:" https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/afghan-high-school-senior-detained-ice-rihan-afghanistan-zia-rcna331785

* "Minnesota county investigates federal agents’ removal of US citizen from home as possible kidnapping:" https://www.wvtm13.com/article/criminal-investigation-ice-arrest-chongly-thao/71006228

* "Minnesota has charged an ICE officer with assault for alleged actions during immigration surge:" https://www.npr.org/2026/04/16/nx-s1-5787958/minnesota-charged-ice-officer-assault-immigration-surge

* "He was detained by ICE. When he got out, he couldn’t find his car:" https://themainemonitor.org/cars-towed-ice-detainment/

* "The American Gulag:" https://pghrev.com/the-american-gulag/

* "Surprise inspection finds ICE stuffing migrants ‘like sardines’ into a facility with no bed, showers:" https://azmirror.com/2026/04/10/ice-overcrowding-like-sardines-congressional-oversight-arizona/

* "Congressman calls for end to ICE detention at Indiana prison after oversight visit:" https://www.wfyi.org/statewide/2026-04-09/congressman-calls-for-end-to-ice-detention-at-indiana-prison-after-oversight-visit

* "Alligator Alcatraz phones were cut off. Then the beatings began, court docs say:" https://archive.ph/BcUFJ

* CW: Rape. "Democrats pay visit to ICE detention facility where abuse claims are rife:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/02/democrats-ice-detention-center

* "DHS appeals Pennsylvania's order blocking ICE detention centers:" https://www.wgal.com/article/dhs-appeals-pennsylvania-order-blocking-ice-detention-centers/70989121

* "Protesters rally against planned Maryland immigration detention facility that's now paused:" https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/protesters-rally-against-planned-maryland-immigration-detention-facility-thats-now-paused/4088194/

* "Trump administration waves the white flag in some ICE cases:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/20/ice-detention-cases-doj-judges-00837850

* "PETITION TO WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL - Support the Civil Detention and Enforcement Facility Prohibition Ordinance :" https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-the-whatcom-county-council-support-the-civil-detention-and-enforcement-facility-prohibition-ordinance?source=direct_link&

If you live in Whatcom County Washington State, please sign.

* Here are some ways to help Immigrants and the anti-ICE Protesters:

"Project Salt Box:" https://projectsaltbox.substack.com/
"MASTER LIST OF WAYS TO HELP IN MINNEAPOLIS:" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807223113540599808?source=share
"Here are Minnesota groups that need your help organizing against ICE and DHS operations:" https://www.advocate.com/news/minnesota-mutual-aid-groups-ice
Links to Help organize in advance of ICE Occupation: https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807226885129060352?source=share
"How To Help if You are Outside Minnesota:" https://naomikritzer.com/2026/01/21/how-to-help-if-you-are-outside-minnesota/
"Support minnesotans defending their communities from ICE:" https://www.standwithminnesota.com/
"When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE :" https://crimethinc.com/2025/12/03/when-the-feds-come-to-your-city-standing-up-to-ice-a-guide-from-chicago-organizers
Immigrant Defenders: https://give.immdef.org/give/545119/#!/donation/checkout
The Bail Project: https://bailproject.org/
National Bail Fund Network: https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/en/nbfn-directory
Amnesty International: protect asylum-seekers: https://donate.amnestyusa.org/page/113080/donate/1
The Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights: https://www.theyoungcenter.org/
CHIRLA: https://www.chirla.org/
AL Otro Lado: https://alotrolado.networkforgood.com/projects/63833-al-otro-lado-fund
"Know Your Rights:" https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights
"Disappeared In America:" https://www.disappearedinamerica.us/
* Some items below this point may be older.

* There is a "Stop Ice" National day of Protest April 25 2026. I want to thank all of you protesting this weekend!

* "Nationwide General Strike Planned for May 1: No Kings Organizer:" https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-kings-general-strike

* "Trump’s FCC targets LGBTQ+ television content. GLAAD sounds alarm:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/fcc-lgbtq-ratings-glaad-warning

A character just being queer is enough. Trans characters will automatically be considered "adult content" just for existing.

This is another way to try to make it impossible for queer people to exist in public. If queer characters are automatically considered obscene even while fully dressed and not doing anything remotely sexual, it's an easy leap to me being dressed and minding my business in a grocery store becoming an arrestable offense.

* "Trans characters are not adult-oriented entertainment:" https://thisfinecrew.dreamwidth.org/325499.html

* The public comment period is open now through May 22, 2026: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/docket-detail/19-41
* "People Who Love Corporate BS Are Bad at Their Jobs, New Cornell Research Confirms

The psychologist behind a new study confirming the link between dumb jargon and dumb decisions explains how to fight corporate BS. :" https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/people-who-love-corporate-bs-are-bad-at-their-jobs-new-cornell-research-confirms/91314405

* "The Looming College-Enrollment Death Spiral:" https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/04/college-enrollment-demographic-cliff/686750/

* "New York City Council Member Chi Ossé arrested at Brooklyn anti-eviction protest:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/advocacy/chi-osse-nyc-council-arrested

* "The Paperwork Problem Behind the Housing Shortage:" https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026-2-18-the-paperwork-problem-behind-the-housing-shortage

* "Rent jumps 113% at College Station manufactured home community in 14 months:" https://www.kbtx.com/2026/02/11/rent-jumps-113-college-station-manufactured-home-community-14-months/

The housing bill is a good and important piece of legislation that will free up so much housing being hoarded by corporations and the like to make it possible for people to have affordable homes.

The House Republicans do not like it, but they have only a two vote majority if you count the independent caucusing with them.

It is essential to contact your Congress Critter in the house and ask them to vote for this bill.

* "Senate extends controversial surveillance program used by U.S. spy agencies:" https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/senate-extends-controversial-surveillance-program-used-by-u-s-spy-agencies

They started debate after midnight to avoid scrutiny and to try to push it over democratic demands for things like warrants.

* "The Emerging Push to Extend Some US Benefits to IDF Soldiers :" https://www.military.com/feature/2026/04/19/emerging-push-extend-some-us-benefits-idf-soldiers.html?ESRC=eb_260423.nl

* "Senate votes to kickstart partisan funding process for ICE. Here's how that works:" https://www.npr.org/2026/04/23/g-s1-118330/congress-dhs-spending-reconciliation

The issues are simple: Democrats want ICE to have to follow the law and Republicans want them to have unlimited power to do whatever they want to whomever they want with impunity.

Please contact your House member and encourage them to vote against the DHS Funding Bill. Say what you need to say if it's a Republican. The important thing is to get them to make changes to the bill as that would create more delay. We want delay. We want them to keep having to debate it while people protest and flood their offices with calls.

* "House Ethics panel issues rare statement committing to helping secure a sexual harassment-free workplace:" https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/20/congress/house-ethics-doubles-down-00880963

* "Democrat Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigns before the House can sanction her in ethics case:" https://apnews.com/article/cherfilusmccormick-ethics-hearing-house-376eaaa9ff51a7bf66a9a5528822d2ef

* "Kevin Warsh hearing takeaways: Trump Fed chair nominee defends finances, says president never demanded rate cuts:" https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/21/kevin-warsh-fed-confirmation-hearing-trump-live-updates.html

Putting a Trump puppet in will be disastrous in likely a permanent sort of way.

Delay is our friend.

* "Warsh Pledges Independence But Dodges Questions on Rates:" https://archive.ph/JNtwE

* "Trump’s Fed scheme is busted as hearing shows he picked a puppet:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-s-fed-scheme-is-busted-as-hearing-shows-he-picked-a-puppet-2497301571538

* ""If The Sock Fits..." - Sen. Warren Believes Trump Seeks To Appoint A Sock Puppet To Lead The Fed:"

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* "Trump to Pick Ousted FEMA Head to Lead Agency Again:" https://archive.ph/hYbc8

* "Trump pick for State Department drops out after drawing heat for comments about ‘white culture’:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/trump-state-department-white-culture-00822112
* Our until Midterms is to survive, to build grassroots resistance, to do all in our power to slow the republican Christo-fascist agenda, and to prepare for 2026 in case there is still Democracy.

"Take action with Indivisible:" https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

Trump 2.0 Indivisible Guide.  https://indivisible.org/resource/guide

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Snail Mail Campaigns: https://conuly.dreamwidth.org/3622760.html

"Congress. gov:" https://www.congress.gov/

White house (Possibly Dangerous): https://www.whitehouse.gov/

ACLU advice for writing to your Critters: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

This tracks legislation: https://www.govtrack.us/

"The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments):" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/781844516804149248?source=share

"Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

Run for Something: https://runforsomething.net/

"Vote Smart:" https://justfacts.votesmart.org/

Protests: "50501 Events:" https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events

"ICE Raids Toolkit: Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests:" https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

Contains a raid tip hotline amoung other things. "Know Your Rights
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY:" https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/
* We are in primary season now. States vote at different times, so I beg ALL of you to check when your state is voting. If you are in an in-person vote state, research ahead of time so you can vote for the candidate with views closest to your own. If you vote by mail, take the time to look them up when your ballot comes.

THIS is how you move the party further LEFT.

PLAN YOUR VOTE!!!

Primary schedule here:

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

I don't know where you live, so I can't link this for you, but I find the Progressive Voter Guide online very helpful in narrowing down candidates in the often packed primaries where I live.

I also suggest looking at things like volunteer work and endorsements, because it really, really helps with things like sheriff and judicial elections, but can be useful in all sorts of primaries when you have multiple good options.

REMEMBER: Don't just vote for the big things like US Congress. Vote in every State and local race down to the smallest and on all the referendums.

State and local elections have a massive impact on your quality of life.

* Indiana! Ohio! Don't forget to vote in the Primaries May 5!

* Congratulations Virginia!!! "Virginia voters approve redistricting plan that could boost Democrats’ seats in Congress:" https://apnews.com/article/virginia-redistricting-election-congress-trump-78e0e68100119011b1b439634f6b6fa1

* "Democrats notch Virginia redistricting victory in battle over House maps:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/virginia-democrats-win-redistricting-vote

* "Court pauses redistricting in Virginia, day after voters approve new maps:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5ywnjw7qj2o

This is just a stay, which is expected, and the court deciding on it is the same one that let them go forward with the vote in the first place. There is reason to think it will be all right. It is too early to panic.

* "‘All eyes are on Ron DeSantis’: Florida could make or break the GOP’s redistricting edge:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/23/florida-redistricting-desantis-republicans-maps-trump-00887120

Now is a great time for Floridians to contact their state reps to say they don't want redistricting.

* "Florida redistricting push divides Republicans:" https://www.semafor.com/article/04/23/2026/florida-redistricting-push-divides-republicans

Remember, delay is our friend. The closer to the election the harder to change the map. It is to our benefit for Republicans to stay divided.

* "A Republican Dark Money Group Blankets Virginia With Deceptive Mailers Ahead of Redistricting Vote:" https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/dark-money-group-per-aspera-blankets-virginia-with-deceptive-mailers-ahead-of-redistricting-vote/

* "Jon Ossoff calls out ‘Mar-a-Lago mafia’ amid presidential bid rumors:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/18/jon-ossoff-fiery-speech-presidential-rumors

* "The Attack On Trans People Is Ramping Up:"

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* "Tennessee Republicans advance flurry of bills to make life unlivable for transgender people:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/tennessee-republicans-transgender-attacks

Now would be a great time to protest.

* "Colorado governor signs law recognizing that trans kids have privacy rights:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/colorado-polis-name-change-law

* "California attorney who tried to help overturn 2020 election loses law license:" https://apnews.com/article/john-eastman-trump-2020-election-loss-disbarred-abf3b3ab8f83a692992615c59db73c92

* "Alex Jones Has Shirtless Meltdown as ‘The Onion’ Prepares to Relaunch Infowars:" https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-onion-deal-relaunch-alex-jones-infowars-1235550918/

* "Alex Jones’ Infowars to become a joke on purpose as accountability finally catches up:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/alex-jones-infowars-to-become-a-joke-on-purpose-as-accountability-finally-catches-up-2497148483591

* "Polygraphs Aren’t Very Accurate. Are There Better Options?:" https://undark.org/2026/03/25/lie-detection-polygraph-accuracy/

* "Blindsided staff at Hampshire College launch relief fund as liberal school prepares to close:" https://www.advocate.com/news/education/hampshire-college-relief-fund

* "Support Hampshire College Staff and Faculty:" https://www.helphampshireworkers.com/

* CW: CSA. "Anti-LGBTQ+ Christian author indicted on child sex abuse charges in Ohio:" https://tiffinohio.net/posts/anti-lgbtq-christian-author-indicted-on-child-sex-abuse-charges-in-ohio/

* "Gen Z Men Twice as Likely as Boomers To Say Wives Should ‘Always Obey’:" https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-men-twice-likely-boomers-say-wives-should-obey-11620626

* "The Queer Rebrand Pipeline (JoJo Siwa Isn’t the Only One):"

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* "My existence is not an ideology:" https://www.libdemvoice.org/my-existence-is-not-an-ideology-79434.html

* "Pope Leo XIV signals no new ground for LGBTQ+ Catholics:" https://www.advocate.com/news/religion/pope-leo-disappoints-lgbtq-catholics

* "Conversion therapy is soul-crushing — and it doesn't work:" https://religionnews.com/2026/04/02/conversion-therapy-is-soul-crushing-and-it-doesnt-work/

* "Beloved San Francisco trans elder Dannielle Spillman killed in hit-and-run after dispute:" https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/dannielle-spillman-killed-san-francisco

* "Adult star Ty Roderick hospitalized after 'brutal' stabbing:" https://www.advocate.com/news/ty-roderick-stabbing-gofundme

* "Women have the same rates of autism as men – but get diagnosed less:" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/autism-diagnosis-males-females-asd-sweden-b2914367.html

* "The California town with less than 30 residents begging for young people to move in:" https://www.sfgate.com/california/article/darwin-ghost-town-21281656.php?src=longreads

* "The ultra-rich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact ecosystems:" https://inthesetimes.com/article/yellowstone-billionaires-conservation-montana-deforest-amazon?

* "Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real:" https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01100-y

* "The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA:" https://nautil.us/the-bra-and-girdle-maker-that-fashioned-the-impossible-for-nasa-1279841

* "It Was the Most Violent Prison in America. Then the Guards Went on Strike:" https://www.gq.com/story/walpole-prison-uprising

* "Journalist plans to create new archive of residential school survivor stories — before it's too late:" https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/connie-walker-tmu-residential-schools-9.7162497

* The big, time sensitive bureaucracy packet came Friday, but I just didn't have it in my to deal with right away. Friday was forage delivery as always, plus… I think it was 7 phone calls, two of them real and important, the rest insurance scammers, plus lots of small things needing doing that nickle and dimed time and energy away.

I did manage to do the packet Saturday evening and it is ready to go, but it inevitably took hours. I still have the other packet and some phone bureaucracy to do, plus driving the paperwork in on Monday. I also submitted an app for sibling kittens. (A friend has raised a kitten fund.

In related news, I finally got a call back from a supplemental care giver. (This is a two hour a week gig to do the things that require an able bodied person like taking out trash and bed changes. This was one of the real calls Friday. Now I need to get her set up to work, so it is also a bureaucracy).

I am at that point where I have spent the last two days playing allergy or low grade virus. Sigh.

* Sunday the pain woke me about an hour before I wanted to be awake. Sigh. I only get two days a week I'm not constantly beset by insurance scammers, and my body does this. I tried the hot bath when no position could even mitigate it. I didn't even try to do physio, it was that bad. It's been a rough night.

In other news, I finished the 2nd pandemic in Western Asia and north Africa and have moved on to the Genoa debate. I really am appreciating how much attention the author pays to source bias, which really matters with history in general and Medieval history in particular.

In other news, Livia spent a good chunk of the afternoon and early evening when she wasn't getting pettins in her living room window box for the first time since Tavy died.

* I ended up getting up a couple hours earlier than intended, which was likely lucky given the massive to do list.

Paperwork got turned in. I picked up a frozen pizza as I knew today was going to be too much, especially with the inland heat made worse by all the black top and concrete and not enough green spaces. It's all also in the part of town with the outdoor farmer's market thing that has limited hours and is on the way to the library. I stopped by and picked up two early girl tomato starts.

Then to the library, where all the close parking was gone. Sigh. Bonus for hot and humid and a visibly high pollen count, as in my shirt and car were collecting it. Then to get new wind shield wipers as mine shredded during the march rains. Then to spend the gas money on litter. Sigh.

Too many things, really.

After the plants were in the ground and the oven set to preheat I spent over an our and half on hold hiring the supplemental disability aid, which is urgent as they stopped paying New Millennial and might not for another month or more. Sigh. If we are lucky, she starts Thursday. If not? Next week.

Miles to go before I sleep. Sigh. And more bureaucracy waiting like a ticking time bomb.

* The New Home Aid is very sweet, young and strong and healthy enough to do the harder bits of the job. We have 8 hours a month for her and she's planning to do all eight before month's end, which will be incredibly helpful. I have clean sheets, clean floors, the trash and recycling are cleared out, and she's organized the tea cupboard, put away dishes, and cleaned a bunch of surfaces including the micro-wave. She's coming for four hours tomorrow. I have a list of stuff she can work on.

After she left, I went out to get cleaning supplies that had been depleted, and stopped by the market garden for more tomato starts and yet another attempt at lavender. The last one did all right but didn't survive the move indoors last autumn. I will want a couple more varietals, plus next month's basil and a couple other things, but my lettuce and spearmint are doing very well. The strawberries have not entirely recovered from last year's HOA attacks, so fingers crossed there. There is already a little asparagus coming up. I really do feel good about the garden.

I don't want to ask her to mess around with compost, so that's still on my plate, but she seemed excited at the prospect of weeding out there, which is constant this time of year.

* New Aid came Friday, and OMG did so Much. Dishes done, Garden fully weeded and swept, lots of small things fixed including a bunch of pinwheels, the bathroom under-sink reorganized and heater put away, two drawers reorganized and tools put away in the tool box, bathroom cleaned (tub will need a second pass, but it is hard and I told her she could stop when she got tired of it. It has to be washed with dish detergent and can't have harsh anything), all litter boxes changed, some heavy things moved, She made a start on tall desk. I will need to mess with it more later, but it means the Last Bedroom Box just has books I need to rearrange some book shelf books for, so that has to be me. She was here long enough to put dishes away before she left. Composting and assorted bureaucracy is still on my personal to do list.

She'll be back Monday. If this seems like a lot to you, she is allotted a certain number of hours for the month and was only released to work here Wednesday. I'm like, you want to do all eight hours in the week we have left and she was like yes please, so we are catching up a lot of things set aside for various emergencies in the last year.

* "A Just War Of Words With The Pope | Great Vengeance And Furious Anger | AI's New Bird:"

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* "Prediction Markets: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO):"

Embed: )

* "Jordan Klepper Gets MAGA's Take on the Iran War & Trump's War with the Pope | The Daily Show:"

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* "The Pitt season one had the sauce in a manner season 2 has lost for many reasons.:" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/814468144142991360/i-kept-waiting-for-someone-possibly-dr-baran?source=share

* "About the Pitt's Dr. al-Hashimi Reveal:" https://www.vulture.com/article/the-pitt-finale-al-hashimi-ending-robby-fight-explained.html

* So exciting! "Lost film by French cinema pioneer Georges Méliès retrieved from US attic:" https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20260413-lost-film-by-french-cinema-pioneer-georges-m%C3%A9li%C3%A8s-retrieved-from-us-attic

* "Pompey Pharsalus Problems:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/y0jp4ofEFZs

* "Wandering Wotan:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JNWFo9Ekmnk

* "Blokey Bromance:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xMiqOf_JEsE

* "Byzantine Bros:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/im-PCwzndWE

* "Constantinople Commerce:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/32PewgLY2Nk

* "Pesky Privateering Pirates:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Vmg7GTswymI

* "Amiable American Revolutionaries:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tn6ft17xlmE

* "Joyful John Paul Jones:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kSp-GPp66UQ

* "Needling Napoleon:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YiQK2KyYZr8

* "Woeful War (of 1812):" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/aoy7joE0HOA

* "Neurodivergent Nosferatu:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VxfkTSkvnJA

* "Vivid Vampires:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8YjGyWqX3ng

* "Tonight On TMZ DC:"

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* Me watching Cracow Monsters: Yeah. College be like That.

* It is Poetry Month. I post them here if you are interested: https://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/tagged/Poetry

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

The help links are at the bottom under the cut.

* "Transcontinental Pipeline:" https://tcpipeline.org/steps/

* "Project Salt Box:" https://projectsaltbox.substack.com/

* "When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE :" https://crimethinc.com/2025/12/03/when-the-feds-come-to-your-city-standing-up-to-ice-a-guide-from-chicago-organizers

* Links to Help organize in advance of ICE Occupation: https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807226885129060352?source=share

* "Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

More )

Family Time in Tokyo

Apr. 24th, 2026 05:56 am
l33tminion: Ichi tasu ichi wa? (Smile)
[personal profile] l33tminion
On Wednesday, we took the bullet train to Tokyo. Erica helped choose the afternoon activity, so we ended up going to Capyneko, a cat and capybara cafe in Harajuku. Beforehand, we had a snack of some very elaborate shaved ice (kakegouri) at PAP Coffee.

For dinner, we went to Denny's, which is mostly notable for the trivia that it's an entirely different restaurant chain licensing the Denny's branding. It's a good time, though, and "family restaurant" is a thing for a reason.

On Thursday, we went to visit my host parents, Kyoko and Isamu, in Shisui. Was really lovely catching up (making the most of my somewhat faded and not that strong in the first place Japanese language skills), and I'm so glad Erica had the chance to meet them in person. They took us out to a really nice lunch nearby.

On the way back, we stopped at Tokyo Skytree Town. Erica didn't want to check out the observation deck of the Skytree itself, the view from the floor 30 lounge in Skytree Town was high enough. The lower floors of the mall there had a lot of pop culture focused shops, among other things. Erica was very excited about the Pokemon Center and we had dinner at the Kirby Cafe, which was definitely very cute.

Let's Go! (to Japan)

Apr. 21st, 2026 09:21 pm
l33tminion: (Junpei)
[personal profile] l33tminion
The biggest of travel plans has arrived.

The long flight from Boston was managed, though we got to Osaka on almost no sleep. Direct flight from Boston went well, though it's a long journey. The connection in Narita was interesting, the domestic terminal has only a few vending machines past security and you take a bus from the gate to the plane on the tarmac. It makes Narita feel like a small regional airport stapled to a major international hub.

Arranged for an airport pickup, though missed our driver in a surprisingly chaotic crowd in the airport arrivals lobby. Got that straightened out despite some struggles with the international roaming on my cell phone plan. (Which took a call to T-Mobile support later to get straightened out.)

And then we were up in middle of the night despite being on about three hours of sleep in the last 36. The sound approach is to just close your eyes and just wait in darkness or silence for four hours straight. Good luck getting a kid to do that, so we took a different approach, a little thing I like to call "jetlagmaxxing", and went to the combini at 3AM for a snack instead.

Our first real day of the trip was spent at Universal Japan. It does seem a certain amount of silly to go that far for a theme park, but it was pretty good for a first-day activity. And we were all (somewhat shockingly) feeling awake and full-energy all day until Erica crashed to zero abruptly just before dinner around 6. Erica was mostly not in the mood for roller coasters, which made me disinclined to spend time waiting for those. And she wanted to spend a lot of time in the Wonderland corner of the park (which has Peanuts, Hello Kitty, and Sesame Street characters and most of the little kid rides). I still had a lot of fun with the calmer rides, treats, and all the details of the theming. Super Nintendo World was absolutely amazing, though. We all exclaimed aloud when we stepped out into the main area, it was really a beautifully realized setting, nostalgic and lively and fun. Donkey Kong: Minecart Madness (Erica's one roller coaster of the day) was top-notch in my book and my favorite bit of the day.

Today, we went to see the deer in Nara Park. They're cute, and we were no exception to everyone wanting to feed the deer, but they will mug you for a deer cracker if you have one (or look like you have maybe thought about having one at some point). Their nipping isn't as aggressive as possible, but nip they do, and some of them would clearly consider taking your crackers at gunpoint but for the lack of guns (and thumbs).

Before heading to the Kasuga-Taisha shrine, we had steamed kakinohazushi (sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves) at Izasa-Nakatani-hompo Yumekaze-hiroba.

Kasuga-Taisha was amazing. I imagine if you're actually Shinto it hits unfathomably hard, but it's definitely an awesome and uncanny place: The monumental lanterns and thousand-year-old trees and wildlife that seems to grow increasingly pious as you approach the shrine. I got insufficient cash from the cash machine this morning and we almost didn't get to see the shrine interior as a result (Erica would not have wanted to make the climb again after backtracking). But we were bailed out by a friendly pair of tourists who spotted us admission when I asked if they could exchange some yen for USD or payment via Venmo or similar. Turns out they were from the other (i.e. the original) Cambridge. Sorry for not catching your names, you're the best, that really made our day.

For the other main attraction of the day, we went to Osaka Castle, which had an interesting museum and fascinating scenery. Afterwards, we went to Osaka Shinsekai and had supper at Jarinko, a very friendly and beautiful little izakaya. They made their own plum wine in-house, fermenting it on the side counter in large jugs. The appetizers were delicious. Got through with dinner just on time to see the whole neighborhood lit up for the night on our way to the train.

4/12/26 - 4/17/26

Apr. 17th, 2026 01:32 am
gwydion: (Default)
[personal profile] gwydion
* Most of this was done by Sunday. A bunch of new stuff isn't making cut off. Sorry.
* "Trump says Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/16/trump-iran-war-israel-lebanon-ceasefire-00876638

* "What we know about the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel:" https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy32277e58o

* "‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon:" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/12/how-israeli-offensive-destroyed-entire-villages-in-lebanon

******

* "Trump’s mixed messages and Iran’s bombs kept the Kurds out of the war:" https://archive.ph/90aB8

* "Trump says he won’t apologize to Pope Leo and explains his reason for posting much-criticized meme:" https://apnews.com/article/trump-pope-leo-xiv-02f6b4554ea4b83af02af15987ae1f2d

* "Pope slams ‘tyrants’ who spend billions on wars days after Trump attacks:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/pope-slams-tyrants-who-spend-billions-on-wars-days-after-trump-attacks-2496731203630

* "Trump deletes post with AI image of himself as Jesus-like figure after outcry:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/13/trump-ai-image-christ-like-figure-backlash

* "Trump learns harsh lesson in backlash over Jesus image; embarrasses Christian supporters:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-learns-harsh-lesson-in-backlash-over-jesus-image-embarrasses-christian-supporters-2496443971897
* "Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán concedes defeat in a European electoral earthquake:" https://apnews.com/article/hungary-election-orban-magyar-trump-1a4eb0ba6b94e0c80c3cd18bd36254ab

*** Immigration/I.C.E/Autocracy/Slow Motion Civil War/Violent Illegal Occupation of Blue Cities News (Sort likely a little rough)***

* "Gay adult film star banned from US for 10 years following 'painful' interrogation:" https://www.advocate.com/news/people/milo-miles-banned
* Some items below this point may be older.

* There is a "Stop Ice" National day of Protest April 25 2026.

* "Nationwide General Strike Planned for May 1: No Kings Organizer:" https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-kings-general-strike

* "President Trump isn't making sense | Opinion:" https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/03/18/trump-iran-cognitive-decline/89197688007/

* "Trump interrupts a Cabinet meeting dealing with the Iran war and rising prices to talk Sharpies:" https://apnews.com/article/trump-cabinet-sharpie-pen-iran-war-153a483dc7fcb6c110c69a47481287ae

* "Trump claims Democrats want to ‘change the sex of your kid’ during tarmac rant:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-democrats-transgender-kids

* "Donald Trump posts gruesome murder video to Truth Social:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/donald-trump-posts-murder-video

* "A Presidential Library Fit for a Real-Estate Mogul:" https://archive.ph/gjtl0

* "A White House Staffer Appears to Run Massive Pro-Trump X Account:" https://www.wired.com/story/a-white-house-staffer-appears-to-run-massive-pro-trump-meme-page/

* "US Treasury plans to put Trump’s signature on new paper currency in first for sitting president:" https://apnews.com/article/trump-currency-signiture-treasury-first-d919877e39f907eba1172a07920ea80e

* "Judge orders White House ballroom construction to halt in a ruling that leaves Trump seething:" https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-ballroom-construction-halted-9cafc70569a3a05fcbaa6cafddbeace4

* "Trump says White House ballroom plans include 'massive' underground military complex:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-white-house-ballroom-underground-military-complex-rcna265822

* "Trump goes off the deep end after judge halts his ballroom pet project:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-goes-off-the-deep-end-after-judge-halts-his-ballroom-pet-project-2494621251509

* "Trump too busy with ballroom and money-making schemes to focus on war, says Murphy:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/trump-too-busy-with-ballroom-and-money-making-schemes-to-focus-on-war-says-murphy-2494594115752

* "Trump polling ‘in the toilet’ as his campaign promises crumble, says Hayes:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/trump-polling-in-the-toilet-as-his-campaign-promises-crumble-says-hayes-2493953603637

* "A Nursing Home Owner Got a Trump Pardon. The Families of His Patients Got Nothing.:" https://www.propublica.org/article/joseph-schwartz-trump-pardon-skyline-nursing-home-patients

* CW: CSA. "Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Trump gets prison sentence for possessing 'enormous child pornography collection':" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/jan-6-rioter-pardoned-by-trump-sentenced-child-pornography-collection-rcna265963

* "Judge deals Trump setback in civil suits over Capitol riot:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/31/trump-setback-civil-suits-capitol-riot-00853761

* "Trump doesn't have to turn over presidential records, Justice Department says :" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-says-trump-not-turn-presidential-records-rcna266434

* "Pentagon has no plan to stop Trump sons profiting from defense contracts: Warren, Blumenthal:" https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/warren-pentagon-corruption-trump-children.html

* "Trump Jr. Balks at Failed Supoena Attempt: ‘Who’s the Criminal?’:" https://archive.ph/OOSqG

* "Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Says He'll Tell Donald Trump 'I Love You, Sir' if He's Fired:" https://people.com/acting-attorney-general-todd-blanche-says-tell-donald-trump-i-love-you-sir-if-fired-11945545

* "Project 2025 is a massive success with ICE in airports, civil rights eroding & elections in flux:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/project-2025-is-successful

* "Trump Is Trying to Override Our Voting System:" https://archive.ph/T7gQi

* "Trump signs order directing creation of a national voter list, a move already facing lawsuit threats:" https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-mail-voting-elections-47cc334b1fb7742244a9c4f176b355cd

* This is blatantly unconstitutional, but I don't trust SCOTUS. "Trump signs order limiting mail-in voting:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/31/trump-executive-order-limiting-mail-in-voting-00853296

* "Trump casts Florida mail ballot as he pushes Congress to severely limit that voting option:" https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-vote-by-mail-bd52fd205f4484237d5b77d2e7319350

Yet more proof Republicans know they are lying about mail ballots being somehow illegitimate.

* "Report exposes a Trump scheme to override midterm vote with bogus crisis:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/report-exposes-a-trump-scheme-to-override-midterm-vote-with-bogus-crisis-2495371331582

* "Maddow sounds alarm on Trump use of scandal-plagued DHS to mess with elections: ‘Watch this space’:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/maddow-sounds-alarm-on-trump-use-of-scandal-plagued-dhs-to-mess-with-elections-watch-this-space-2494448707974

* "The Real Election Threat: Tech Oligarchs & Algorithms | The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart:"

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* "Defense Secretary Hegseth intervened to stop promotions of Black and female officers:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/27/nx-s1-5763863/hegseth-soldiers-promotions

* "Backlash grows after Pete Hegseth alters military general promotions list:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/hegseth-general-promotions-bree-fram

* "Trump wouldn’t ‘want to stand next to a Black female officer,’ Army chief was told: NYT:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/trump-wouldn-t-want-to-stand-next-to-a-black-female-officer-army-chief-was-told-nyt-2494142531770

* "Hegseth ousts top Army general:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/02/hegseth-ousts-top-army-general-00856755

* "US army raises upper age for recruits to 42 and scraps marijuana restrictions:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/25/army-max-enlistment-marijuana-restrictions

* "Automatic U.S. military draft registration planned by December, filing shows:" https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/military-draft-registration-automatic-iran-war.html

* "Pentagon will remove media offices after judge reinstates New York Times press credentials:" https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-policy-news-reporters-hegseth-85b3c3cc7c71962d493037e69531d6fd

* "Trump's VA killed a home loan program. Vets are now losing their homes because of it:" https://www.npr.org/2026/04/02/nx-s1-5750814/veterans-mortgages-foreclosure-va-rescue

* "Transgender military community gathers to honor its own as Trump’s ban grinds forward:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/albert-cashier-transgender-military-awards

* "Kash Patel Confirms UFC Fighters Will Train FBI Agents This Week, Calling It A “Historic Opportunity”:" https://deadline.com/2026/03/kash-patel-ufc-fighters-train-fbi-agents-1236750897/

* "FBI Sought Kash Patel’s Phone Records For Over Two Years—Here’s What We Know:" https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/03/24/fbi-sought-kash-patels-phone-records-for-over-two-years-heres-what-we-know/

* "How Corey Lewandowski Wielded Power Inside D.H.S.:" https://archive.ph/YxadH

* "White House Heard Lewandowski Kickback Allegations, Did Nothing:" https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-heard-lewandowski-kickback-claims-did-nothing.html

* "Exclusive: Dems Say Republican Investigation Into Noem, Lewandowski Is a Farce:" https://www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-democrats-say-republican-investigation-into-noem-lewandowski

* "Pete Buttigieg spotlights ethics concerns about Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/pete-buttigieg-sean-duffy-corruption

* "C.D.C. Pauses Testing for Rabies and Pox Viruses:" https://archive.ph/3oQn9

In my opinion, rabies is the worst thing than can happen to you, and we're dismantling everything we've done to fight it.

* "Judge blocks RFK Jr.’s dangerous vaccine policy changes. Ex-CDC leader calls it ‘big news’:" https://www.advocate.com/health/judge-blocks-rfk-vaccine-changes

* "ACIP government vaccine panel meeting postponed after judge voids RFK Jr.’s appointments:" https://www.advocate.com/health/acip-vaccine-meeting-postponed

* "F.D.A. Reverses Decision and Agrees to Review Moderna’s Flu Vaccine:" https://archive.ph/oUUVZ

* "Windows shot up in CDC shooting haven’t been replaced months later:" https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/windows-shot-up-cdc-shooting-havent-been-replaced-months-later/ANINW2S4KVEU7PF3AS25OZ5NY4/

* "Federal judge blocks RFK Jr. from limiting care for trans youth:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/judge-rebukes-rfk-transgender-care

* "Federal judge rebuffs Trump administration push to restrict gender-affirming care for minors :" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/maryland-judge-trans-health-care

* "These moms are risking arrest to protect gender-affirming care for trans youth:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/moms-protesting-for-trans-kids

* "RFK Jr.’s HHS proposes scrapping protections for LGBTQ+ kids in foster care:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/lgbtq-youth-foster-care-hhs

* "Former DOGE staffer says ChatGPT helped feds cancel grants mentioning ‘LGBTQ+’:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/doge-chatgpt-dei-lgbtq-grants

* "The Quiet Way Trump Has Made Life Easier for Polluters:" https://newrepublic.com/article/206814/epa-enforcement-trump-polluters

* "Oil flows again through controversial California pipeline after Trump order:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/17/oil-california-pipeline-iran

* "Trump administration to pay French company $1B to drop U.S. offshore wind leases:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/23/g-s1-114868/trump-totalenergies-offshore-wind-leases

It would be so much cheaper to simply use the wind power, especially during an oil crisis.

* "Trump to pay 1 billion taxpayer dollars to stop wind farms:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-to-pay-1b-taxpayer-dollars-to-stop-wind-farms-2493364803853

* "Oil flows through Santa Barbara coastal pipeline for first time in decade amid Trump fight with California:" https://archive.ph/vtZOO

* "Trump Administration Approves Ultra-Deepwater Oil Drilling Plan:" https://archive.ph/VcH83

* "US FEMA resumes key disaster prevention program that it canceled last year:" https://archive.ph/sYtkE

* "FEMA official who has claimed to be teleported is ‘unfit’ for role, Democrats say:" https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/25/fema-official-claimed-to-be-teleported/

* "FEMA Official Gregg Phillips—the Waffle House Guy—Has Been Saying Even Crazier Stuff Than We Thought:" https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a71017816/fema-official-gregg-phillips-waffle-house-removed-from-post/

* "What New Department of Education Banner Labels Charlie Kirk Raises Eyebrows:" https://www.newsweek.com/what-new-department-education-banner-labels-charlie-kirk-raises-eyebrows-11603180

* "The depleted Education Department will move out of its headquarters:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/26/nx-s1-5762974/education-department-building

* "Trump administration undoes civil rights settlements that found discrimination against trans students:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-trans-student-settlements-reversed

* "Federal workplace rights agency says Trump’s government can limit transgender employees’ bathroom usage:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-eeoc-transgender-employee-protection

* "Trump administration is erasing history and science at national parks, lawsuit argues:" https://www.npr.org/2026/02/18/nx-s1-5718006/trump-national-parks-lawsuit

* "DOGE Tapes Are a Catastrophe:"

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* "DC Bar moves to sanction Ed Martin for DEI push:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/10/dc-bar-sanction-ed-martin-dei-00821092

* "U.S. Judge says Kari Lake broke law in overseeing Voice of America:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/08/nx-s1-5741594/u-s-judge-kari-lake-broke-law-voice-of-america

* "Voice of America staffers sue, alleging Kari Lake put on propaganda:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/23/nx-s1-5756465/voice-of-america-staffers-sue-alleging-kari-lake-put-on-propaganda

* "Citing First Amendment, federal judge blocks Trump order to end funding for NPR and PBS:" https://apnews.com/article/trump-npr-pbs-funding-executive-order-fbd9500e5f7400deab84ead188c35694

* "FCC’s Carr urges broadcasters to air ‘patriotic, pro-America’ content:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/20/fccs-carr-urges-broadcasters-to-air-patriotic-pro-america-content-00791260?ICID=ref_fark

* "Trump's FCC Censorship Backfires:"

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* "8 states file emergency motion to block Nexstar-Tegna merger after FCC approval:" https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/8-states-file-emergency-motion-block-nexstar-tegna-merger-fcc-approval-rcna264485

* "Billy Porter says work is drying up for Black & queer artists in Trump's America:" https://www.advocate.com/news/culture/billy-porter-trump-kennedy-center

* "Ric Grenell’s very ‘normal gay’ implosion:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/ric-grenell-normal-gay-implosion

* "Judge rules Democratic lawmaker must be allowed to attend Kennedy Center board meeting:" https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/judge-rules-democrat-joyce-beatty-attend-kennedy-center-board-meeting-rcna263529

**** Corruption of the Justice System, Pushback, and Related ****

* "DOJ's Horrendous Settlement With Ticketmaster:"

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* "Justice department drops charges against veteran who burned US flag:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/14/justice-department-drops-flag-burning-charges-veteran

* "DOJ says it will keep defending Trump’s attacks on law firms, 24 hours after saying it wouldn’t:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/03/trump-justice-department-law-firms-00809639

* "Jerome Powell Didn’t Ask for This Sh*t:" https://www.thebulwark.com/p/fed-chair-jerome-powell-didnt-ask-for-this-sht-trump

* "Lawyer project preserves record of radical DOJ corruption under Trump:" https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow/watch/lawyer-project-preserves-record-of-radical-doj-corruption-under-trump-2488862275520

* "Judge rejects NJ US Attorney 'triumvirate’ in latest blow to Trump prosecutors:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/09/new-jersey-us-attorney-leaders-ruling-00819403

**** Trump/Epstein/Maxwell, etc. CW: CSA ****

* "He Built the Definitive Epstein Database—and It Consumed His Life:" https://www.wired.com/story/he-built-the-definitive-epstein-database-and-it-consumed-his-life/

* "Foreign hacker reportedly breached FBI servers holding Epstein files in 2023 :" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/11/fbi-epstein-files-hacker-break-in

* "Justice Department publishes documents with sexual assault allegations against Trump:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/05/donald-trump-epstein-files-allegations-00816123?user_id=66c4c273600ae150758fb422

* "The Epstein files and the danger of transparency without accountability:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/epstein-files-need-accountability

* "Key background details in Epstein-Trump accuser’s FBI interview verified:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/key-background-details-in-epstein-trump-accuser-s-fbi-interview-verified-2491697731952

* "Protestors gather outside of Epstein’s Zorro Ranch demanding justice:" https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/protestors-gather-outside-of-epsteins-zorro-ranch-demanding-justice/

* "What Melania Trump’s bizarre Jeffrey Epstein press event reveals about a White House in chaos:" https://www.advocate.com/opinion/that-melania-trump-press-conference

* "Melania Trump stages bizarre announcement denying links to Jeffrey Epstein despite evidence:" https://www.ms.now/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/melania-trump-stages-bizarre-announcement-denying-links-to-jeffrey-epstein-despite-evidence-2495837251846

* "Video of Clinton depositions in Epstein investigation released by House Republicans:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/02/nx-s1-5732871/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-depositions-epstein-files
* "Sharing a stage, Justices Jackson and Kavanaugh spar over Supreme Court orders favoring Trump:" https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-kavanaugh-jackson-emergency-appeals-84fa9402f5b449316d2cd28bdda1d06b

* "Supreme Court sides with parents in lawsuit over California’s ban on ‘forced outing’ of students:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/02/supreme-court-sides-with-parents-in-lawsuit-over-californias-ban-on-forced-outing-of-students-00808138

* "The Supreme Court’s conversion therapy ruling is being misunderstood:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/supreme-court-conversion-therapy-explained

* "Supreme Court denies appeal in AI-generated art case:" https://www.courthousenews.com/supreme-court-denies-appeal-in-ai-generated-art-case/

* "Steve Bannon wins Supreme Court order likely to lead to dismissal of contempt of Congress conviction:" https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-capitol-riot-bannon-trump-4a4cf324096fc1bfed204d42b54d191e

* "Lower Immigration And Zero Net Job Creation Dim U.S. Growth Prospects:" https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2026/03/22/lower-immigration-and-zero-net-job-creation-dim-us-growth-prospects/

* "Surprise Drop in US Payrolls Casts Doubt on Steadying Job Market:" https://archive.ph/bnKFn

* "The Fed holds interest rates steady as the economy faces deep uncertainty:" https://www.npr.org/2026/03/18/nx-s1-5750485/federal-reserve-policy-meeting-inflation-gas-iran-jobs

* "The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, stoking labor market worries:" https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/2026-labor-market-set-begin-taking-shape-february-jobs-report-rcna261994

* "Energy, food prices surged in February — before Iran fighting started:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/11/inflation-iran-oil-energy-food-economy-trump-00822622

* "The fragile economies at the heart of rural hospitals:" https://archive.ph/G9tyT

* "1 in 10 ACA enrollees dropped their coverage due to rising health care costs: Poll:" https://abcnews.com/Health/1-10-aca-enrollees-dropped-coverage-due-rising/story?id=131178596

* "Trump’s new budget turns the FBI into the gender police:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/trump-gender-extremism-fbi

* "House narrowly rejects limits on Trump as Iran war drags on:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/16/house-rejects-trump-limits-iran-war-00876707

We need to flip 2 votes for the next time Democrats put this forward.

Please tell Democrat Jared Golden of Maine what you think of him siding with Trump.

Please thank Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas, Greg Landsman of Ohio and Juan Vargas of California for doing the right thing this time, and Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky for siding with peace.

It is really important to pressure Republican House members if you have one, because this vote was so close and another will come around.

* "Bernie Sanders’ effort to block US weapons sales to Israel fails in Senate:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/bernie-sanders-pushes-military-block-israel

* Sometimes the pressure works: "Fisa surveillance vote sparks fierce debate as Congress splits on warrantless monitoring:" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/15/fisa-surveillance-renewal-debate

* "House advances measure to protect Haitian immigrants:" https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/15/congress/house-advances-petition-to-protect-haitian-immigrants-00873710

* "Dems file 6 impeachment articles against Hegseth:" https://www.axios.com/2026/04/15/iran-war-pete-hegseth-congress-impeachment-articles-democrats-reflecting-search-interest-order

* "Florida Democrat found guilty of House Ethics violations:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/27/sheila-cherfilus-mccormick-guilty-ethics-00848019

* CW: Rape. "Swalwell to resign from Congress:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/eric-swalwell-resign-from-congress-00869957

* CW: Rape. "California woman says she was raped by Rep. Eric Swalwell in 2018:" https://apnews.com/article/eric-swalwell-congress-rape-accusation-california-bd42cd883afdcb20990c3fa4b0d82f9d

* "Tony Gonzales says he will resign from House:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/tony-gonzales-says-he-will-resign-from-house-00870140

* CW: Sexual Misconduct, Domestic Violence. "Cory Mills Under Pressure After Sexual Misconduct Claims:" https://www.newsweek.com/cory-mills-pressure-resign-sexual-misconduct-claims-11830737

* "‘George Santos with a gun’: GOP Rep. Cory Mills faces new calls to resign:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/george-santos-with-a-gun-gop-rep-cory-mills-faces-new-calls-to-resign-2496570435513

* "Trump chooses establishment pick to head CDC:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/16/trump-cdc-nomination-00877436

* "Trump’s Fed Pick Discloses Vast Wealth Ahead of Confirmation Hearing:" https://archive.ph/D4vyZ

* "Thune says Senate GOP ‘prepared’ to fill potential Supreme Court vacancy:" https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/14/congress/thune-ready-to-fill-possible-scotus-vacancy-00871750
* Our until Midterms is to survive, to build grassroots resistance, to do all in our power to slow the republican Christo-fascist agenda, and to prepare for 2026 in case there is still Democracy.

"Take action with Indivisible:" https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

Trump 2.0 Indivisible Guide.  https://indivisible.org/resource/guide

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options for contacting your Congress Critters:

Five Calls to your critters: https://5calls.org/

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

And another: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

Snail Mail Campaigns: https://conuly.dreamwidth.org/3622760.html

"Congress. gov:" https://www.congress.gov/

White house (Possibly Dangerous): https://www.whitehouse.gov/

ACLU advice for writing to your Critters: https://www.aclu.org/writing-your-elected-representatives

This tracks legislation: https://www.govtrack.us/

"The Public Comment Process (+ how to write effective public comments):" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/781844516804149248?source=share

"Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

Run for Something: https://runforsomething.net/

"Vote Smart:" https://justfacts.votesmart.org/

Protests: "50501 Events:" https://www.fiftyfifty.one/events

"ICE Raids Toolkit: Defend Against ICE Raids and Community Arrests:" https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

Contains a raid tip hotline amoung other things. "Know Your Rights
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY:" https://wearecasa.org/know-your-rights/
* "Minnesota elections office subpoenaed in non-citizen voting probe, official says:" https://archive.ph/a4U6m

There is no evidence, but I don't trust them not to manufacture some in cases where they grab materials, etc.. now they've weaponized the entire federal government.

* "Republican states are pushing through their own versions of the SAVE America Act:" https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/25/republican-states-save-america-act-00844237

* "Voting rights groups sue Texas over removal of potential noncitizens from the voter roll:" https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/27/texas-save-database-voter-rolls-removal-dps-secretary-of-state/

* "Governor Rhoden signs South Dakota SAVE Act:" https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2026/03/26/governor-rhoden-signs-south-dakota-save-act/

* "Colorado appeals court overturns Tina Peters’ sentence in election security breach:" https://coloradosun.com/2026/04/02/colorado-court-of-appeals-overturns-tina-peters-sentence/

* We are in primary season. States vote at different times, so I beg ALL of you to check when your state is voting. If you are in an in-person vote state, research ahead of time so you can vote for the candidate with views closest to your own. If you vote by mail, take the time to look them up when your ballot comes.

THIS is how you move the party further LEFT.

PLAN YOUR VOTE!!!

Primary schedule here:

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

I don't know where you live, so I can't link this for you, but I find the Progressive Voter Guide online very helpful in narrowing down candidates in the often packed primaries where I live.

I also suggest looking at things like volunteer work and endorsements, because it really, really helps with things like sheriff and judicial elections, but can be useful in all sorts of primaries when you have multiple good options.

REMEMBER: Don't just vote for the big things like US Congress. Vote in every State and local race down to the smallest and on all the referendums.

State and local elections have a massive impact on your quality of life.

* "Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election for US House:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/16/progressive-democrat-analilia-mejia-wins-new-jersey-special-election-for-us-house

* "Democrat Analilia Mejía joins Chris Hayes after defeating Republican in N.J. special election:" https://www.ms.now/all-in/watch/democrat-analilia-mejia-wins-nj-special-election-ap-projects-2496733251599

* "Mayor Mamdani appoints trans woman to run first-ever NYC Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs:" https://www.advocate.com/news/mamdani-office-lgbtqia-affairs-nyc

* CW: Sexual Assault. "Eric Swalwell’s governor bid is collapsing as top Democrats turn on him:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/eric-swalwell-support-collapses

* "New Bryon Noem bombshell puts Kristi Noem’s anti-trans politics under harsher spotlight:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/bryon-noem-kristi-noem-hypocrisy

* CW: CSA. "Alaska legislator's chief of staff arrested on child sex crime charges :" https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-02-20/alaska-legislators-chief-of-staff-arrested-on-child-sex-crime-charges

* "Tennessee passes campus protest crackdown bill named after Charlie Kirk:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/charlie-kirk-act-tennessee

* "Wyoming governor signs ban on abortions after about 6 weeks but cites misgivings:" https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-abortion-ban-cardiac-activity-gordon-dc7873edfea37389568434cf781ac9eb

* "Idaho governor signs bill to force teachers, doctors to out transgender minors to their parents:" https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/04/10/idaho-governor-signs-bill-to-force-teachers-doctors-to-out-transgender-minors-to-their-parents/

* "Republican Ohio House passes drag ban targeting transgender Ohioans:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/drag-ban-ohio-house-passed

* "Ohio queer motorcycle club responds to anti-LGBTQ+ laws by teaching how to fire guns:" https://www.advocate.com/news/ohio-transgender-gun-lessons

* "South Carolina Senate passes bill restricting transgender students’ bathroom use:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/south-carolina-trans-bathroom-bill

* "Florida Republicans pass bill empowering Ron DeSantis to oust local officials who support LGBTQ+ Pride:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/florida-anti-pride-bill-passes

* "Oklahoma House votes to block birth certificate changes for transgender people & to ban Pride flags:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/oklahoma-birth-certificate-pride-flags

* "New Hampshire House advances transgender bathroom bill, breaking with New England:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/new-hampshire-trans-bathroom-bill

* "Iowa bans cities and towns from protecting transgender citizens’ civil rights:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/iowa-kim-reynolds-anti-trans

* "Virginia Republican names bill for swimmer whose fifth-place tie with trans athlete launched lucrative career:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/national/john-mcguire-riley-gaines-act

* "Could Minneapolis welcome bathhouses back for the first time since the late 1980s?:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/minneapolis-explores-licensing-bathhouses

* "Pennsylvania House approves Malcolm Kenyatta’s marriage equality bill to update outdated state law:" https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/pennsylvania-house-marriage-equality-bill

* "Stochastic Activism:" https://cmarmitage.substack.com/p/stochastic-activism

* "Texas suspect charged in firebombing of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s San Francisco home:" https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/arrest-sam-altman-attacks

* "New York robber on the run after stealing just $605 from six banks across city:" https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/24/new-york-city-bank-robber-on-the-run

* "Former Biden HHS leaders hail syphilis breakthrough as Trump dismantles the system behind it:" https://www.advocate.com/health/sexual-health/doxypep-syphilis-biden-hhs
* "Lāʻie community unites after unexpected neighborhood flooding:" https://www.khon2.com/kona-low/la%CA%BBie-community-unites-after-unexpected-neighborhood-flooding/

* "Here’s what to know as the scope of damage from Hawaii’s floods becomes clearer:" https://wtop.com/national/2026/03/heres-what-to-know-as-the-scope-of-damage-from-hawaiis-floods-becomes-clearer/

* "How to Help Those Impacted by the Hawaii Floods:" https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2026-03-25/how-to-help-those-impacted-by-the-hawaii-floods

* "Donate to Maui Rapid Response:" https://www.mauirapidresponse.org/donate-mrr

* "Donate to The Stronger Hawai‘i Fund:" https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/stronger-hawaii-donate

* "Kāko‘o Mai: Emergency Relief for Flooding:" https://givebutter.com/support-the-north-shore-community-4jobpv

* "United Way Hawai‘i:" https://hiuw.org/how-to-help/give.html

* "Lāhui Foundation Post-Flood Recovery Efforts 2026:" https://donorbox.org/lahui-foundation-post-flood-recovery-efforts-2026
* "The Artemis Accords:" https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-accords/

* "The best photos from NASA's first moon mission in more than 50 years:" https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/photos-nasa-artemis-ii-moon-mission-rcna266561

* Thoughts on Watching Artemis II Coverage:

I keep thinking about how excited my dad would have been about Artemis. He cared so much about NASA, about space exploration, about science.

Over the decades I has often pictured my parents, my mom pregnant with me holding hands and eating her homemade caramel corn, watching the moon landing together. I like to think of them that way, young and still at the start of everything, and so very alive, all their worries put aside for something hopeful and amazing they'd spent most of their lives hoping would happen.

I also keep thinking about how exciting it was when Sally Ride came to school as a kid, how I'd grown up with science fiction and how the space program was so full of hope. She was amazing, and I was glad I got to meet her briefly after her talk. She was just so inspiring and so human. Even though her speech taught me that I'd never go to space, it made me so glad people like her were doing it.

I want people cooperating to do science.

I want governments cooperating to do great and important things.

I want people looking up and having a moment of wonder about what humans can achieve with skill and knowledge and cooperation, because that feels like hope.

* Very early Sunday morning, I snuck over to Nearby grocery, which is over-priced, but has a number of things that are hard to get anywhere else and also is one of the few places I can use the secondary food card, the one I must use every month as it won't roll over and which as weird restrictions on what can and can't be bought, so you have to guess what is covered and there are occational terrible surprises at check out.

I had planned to wait until later in the month, but I had a 10% on all groceries off coupon and I could think of aproximately the benefit amount's worth of groceries that I needed, plus I really wanted their bagels, which are not covered as the government conciders bagels "unhealthy" foods, unlike bread and burger buns, which are covered. Did I meantion how nonsensical the "healthy" vs. "Unhealthy designation is? I was not sure how the benefit card and the coupon would interact, as I could see that when and how they applied the coupon would effect whether or not the benefit card would have left overs on it and I having to make the difference up in cash. This benefit card can't be used with EBT and there are weird rules about how it counts things generally.

Now was a good time to do it, as this is the most I am ever likely to ever spend at once at Nearby Grocery during the coupon period, and I had my Emergancy Twenty on me, which meant I could gamble by picking up bagels and a couple other things I know the card doesn't cover. (Go ahead and judge me, but sometimes I can get half price high end ice cream there, for example, if I keep an eye out. There's a list of these things I check when I'm in there. Brand name cereal is super expensive, so I always check the cereal aisle for surprise half price sales).

We like to shop there either very late or very early and between 6 and 7AM is one of the sweet spots. No lines, no crowds, no one's bought all the good bagels yet. <.< >.> Look, I can't get bagels like hoome here, but the cheese ones make really good sandwiches, okay? And this is the store in town with the best selection of philly brand cream cheese flavours. I have very few pleasures left to me in life, I must savour the ones I still have.

So I zip around with my cart. Alas the startlingly extreme sale on the good yoghurt ewas over, but I'd expected that. I collected my benefit's worth, plus about fifteen extra in non-covered stuff. I even remembered to pick up coriander. I hobbled to the check out.

They clearly applied the discount at the end, because the card took it's full amount ant I ended up scraping a dollar and change out of the coin pouch. Score! It could not have gone better, really.

So I had my bagel sandwiches and I will have some tomnight as well. I have a nice store of good cream cheese flavours I didn't have to pay for. I got literally everything I'd hoped to get with the emergancy twenty intact.

So many defeats and horrible happenings in the world, so I take my victories where I can.

I still haven't touched my bureaucracy and I know more bureaucracy will be on it's way shortly, but I keep waking up with the shakes, and everything takes ages. For now fridge full and litter boxes clean will have to do.

The great Waterfox untangling took about three hours spread over two days, which again well beats out Forefoxe crashes which are in the 10-20 hour range depending on when they catch me. I am glad to have waterfox sorted finally as it was making me crazy trying to work with it like that. So let's call this another small victory.

* I went to bed early Sunday, as I was exhausted and I knew it was even odds of fire inspection. I actually had time to read about rat behavior for a while while petting Livia in the morning. I was just contemplating doing my daily physio when the fire alarm went off. Livia scrambled off for the secure hide and I started pulling on clothes. Squirrel went out to check and they were starting at the far end of our floor, which meant there was time to reconfigure bedding and cover the bed. The alarm here is louder than anywhere I've ever lived and extremely hard on the nervous system. I don't do well with the fast flashing lights either, but better to overload my sensory system than a deaf person die in a fire, so I'm not angry about that.

By the time I poked my head out into the hall, I could hear them just on the other side of the fire door, so I waited, rather than risk them moving past us with a too soft knock. Usually, the HoA come to snoop during inspection, but it started so early, I think they hadn't gotten their shit together, so the fire inspectors were in and out pretty fast.

I did my physio and then went on by library run. Livia was still in hiding when I got back, so I ate and did lungs. I'd settled in at the computer before she came out for her loves. I ended up going out again later to see a friend. In the shirt time I was open, my shirt gathered an alarming amount of visible pollen. O.o

I ended up having to go out again Tuesday, as I am nearly out of algae wafers. The local indie pet store is really mostly for cats and dogs, but they do carry the mini wafers. Given the size of my plecoes I prefer large, but the world doesn't end if they have to deal with multiple mini wafers instead of half a big one and it's a lot less gas. There was a check for me, from a kind benefactor that will catch up the bills I fell behind on because taxes, so I changed my itinerary to hit downtown first.

Stopped at the light that takes me out of my neighborhood and on to the big feeder road, my book on CD ended, which is perfect. It was overdue, but it had one more CD to finish, so I didn't return it the day before as I should have. I added the library to the list.

I am exhausted. This is too much walking for me really, but it is productive. Big bill is paid, and I can pay second biggest bill tomorrow. Progress.

* Wednesday morning's insurance scammer harassment involved two calls in less than half an hour. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I gave up and read about yersina pestis evolution and ancient world plagues until it was time for a short visit from Techie Millennial. Then I did my physio. After lunch I dragged myself out into the garden to try to scoot heavy things around. I did manage the most important part of the garden rearrangement. Just. I am concerned about the next part, because I am going to have to lift heavy things. Luckily not far or even high, but if my body gives out midway, I'm kind of fucked. I weeded a bit while I was out there and I do think this arrangement is going to take better advantage of the bush that was my nemesis for over a decade being gone.

This was most of the Wednesday spoons, so I had to put of fish and cat maintenance and bureaucracy yet again. Maybe tomorrow if it is also not raining. (It rained a lot Tuesday). Mostly I don't mind getting wet, but If I'm going to be crawling around and sitting on the dirt in front of the patio, I would rather it not be in the the rain. Soaked in mud is not as bad as sticky, but it's rough with my sensory issues and it's been colder since the Tuesday rains and my body is bad at temperature regulation at the best of times. Add cold mud and physical strain that will definitely hurt my shoulder and… yeah. So best it not be rain.

I waited several weeks hoping for help, but no dice, and the longer I wait, the more plants get injured in the reshuffle.

Livia's mood seems to be improving now spring is here, which is a relief.

* Six Insurance scammer phone calls today, plus a real one I needed to answer about medications. The your medicare has been flagged and you could lose your benefits one is back this week. I thought I'd blocked them all but Monday they called once and each day since until Thursday when they called twice. Fuckers got all new numbers, I bet. The dementia trickers are down to one a day, so I'm hoping I'm blocked most of there's. There is now one that has a slightly different script and organization name, like this scam is being plagiarized off the other Dementia trickers, but they are changing things slightly to avoid getting caught. They call once a day starting late last week. And I still haven't eradicated the death benefit assholes, even though they no longer call every day. I think they may have changed their numbers too, as they were silent for a week. Sigh.

All but the original dementia trap people and the real meds call were clustered tight together, so I'd start to drift off and the phone would ring again. I gave up and read 1st Pandemic Plague statistics until it was time to do physio and start changing my pillow cases. I got half way through before I needed a long nap. One of the big support pillows isn't really anymore despite the extra foam. I have given in and dragged a lumpy half dead pillow out of the hall closet where I banished it during the Great Contractor disaster last summer. I have combined them, which at least means I could add some extra foam to the other big support pillow. No clue If the Frankenpillow will work as it looks a little high for proper hip support, but we'll see.

I did just manage to do the rest of the garden rearranging, discovering three more problems out there in the process. Sigh. This took most of the spoons, but I did manage litter after lungs and food.

I really need to do all this bureaucracy, but I am wrung out and exhausted.

* "Trump Rages at Pope Leo, JD Vance Fumbles Iran Deal & Hungary Ousts Viktor Orban | The Daily Show:"

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* "JD Vance Fails | Trump Got Nothing From Iran | Our Savior In Chief:"

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* "President Trump And The Doordash Grandma:"

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* ""He's The Antichrist" | Teleportation Juice | America's Not Making Enough Babies:"

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* "Americans Can't Afford 7-Eleven | A Day Beyond Trump | JD Vance: The Pope Should Be Careful:"

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* "GMCU (Greek Mythology Cinematic Universe):" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/m4EVK7eUlCk

* "Laughing Lusty Loki:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/w-D0h-aioKc

* "Hefty Hauling Hammers:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jKogBf2i1fI

* "Enchanting Eleanor (Aquitaine):" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ojtiHKXiZJY

* "Princely Parenting:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/owC05aSm4YM

* "Crusade Cavalcade 2 Silly Seiges (Acre):" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/km5BbmGyugg

* "Escaping Edward Escapades:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BBhpFlbXZqs

* "Whimsical Weddings:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/y5Wv5I_dT8Y

* "Sengoku Samurai Sagas 4:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CJhf85I4VmE

* Pre-Industrial Worldbuilding: https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/814040962943926272/and-dont-forget-how-much-people-loved-colour-and

* "Kind-hearted Kids 9:" https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-V3J3-23O8c

* "Trump Making Calls Cold Open - SNL:"

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* "Fashion District Robbery - SNL:"

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* "What If I Told You - SNL:"

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* "Beastomorphs - SNL:"

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* "A Message From First Lady Melania Trump:"

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* ""Antichrist Superstar":"

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* "Ken Burns Presents: The Chimp Civil War:"

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* It is Poetry Month again. I post them here if you are interested: https://gwydionmisha.tumblr.com/tagged/Poetry

*****
* Full list of Resistance and charity links has been migrated to my profile as it was getting out of hand.

The help links are at the bottom under the cut.

* "Transcontinental Pipeline:" https://tcpipeline.org/steps/

* "Donate to Kansas ACLU:" https://action.aclu.org/give/support-aclu-kansas

* "Project Salt Box:" https://projectsaltbox.substack.com/

* "When the Feds Come to Your City: Standing Up to ICE :" https://crimethinc.com/2025/12/03/when-the-feds-come-to-your-city-standing-up-to-ice-a-guide-from-chicago-organizers

* "MASTER LIST OF WAYS TO HELP IN MINNEAPOLIS:" https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807223113540599808?source=share

* "Here are Minnesota groups that need your help organizing against ICE and DHS operations:" https://www.advocate.com/news/minnesota-mutual-aid-groups-ice

* Links to Help organize in advance of ICE Occupation: https://www.tumblr.com/gwydionmisha/807226885129060352?source=share

* "Swing Left:" https://swingleft.org/

* Contains link to trans girl sales pages. "Trans Girl Scouts On Cookie List Sell 71,000 Boxes Of Cookies And Growing:" https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/trans-girl-scouts-on-cookie-list

* "2026 Statewide Primary Calendar:" https://www.270towin.com/2026-state-primary-calendar/

* "The List of Shame: People frequently ask us about whether their specific US state is trying to enact a social media age verification law so they can call their state representatives and yell at them about it!:" https://dw-advocacy.dreamwidth.org/1493.html

* "Keep Android Open:" https://keepandroidopen.org/

* "Taking action against AI harms:" https://www.anildash.com/2026/02/23/taking-action-ai-harms/

* "Resist and Unsubscribe:" https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/

More )

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